Sorry i didnt not get this earlier Jamie. They were ok but you have to stay on them or stuff wont get done. Their contractors drink beer on the job site. Make sure the contractors are using your specs cause they originally put my shower in the wrong way which would have messed up my bathtub and tile set up. Contarctors spilled a whole bottle of some red sauce they had for lunch on the sub floor and was going to leave it there. i brought to the attention of schumacher and they barely wiped it up, so i went in and cleaned it myself so I would not have ants down the road because their spill on my sub floor (when i say spilled the entire bottle, they left the spilled bottle ontop of the spill, that bottle was full the prior day when i was at the site). I will just say this stay ontop of your builder/project manager like you are monitoring a toddler. i didnt want to micro manage them but if you do not things will get missed even though its on your contract. Example: Shower plumber put in wrong direction, Missing lighting, missed painted spots on the exterior, cleaning is not the greatest prior to you recieving the house so be prepared to go in a do a deep clean once you officially get keys, door swing. These were just the things i did not catch during the build and pointed out after, there were plenty of little things during the build i had to point out to the builder during construction that were add in Precon that they were not doing per my contract. Overall house is good, but i did not like that i had to micro manage them to get what i paid for or i would be missing alot of my paid for items and upgrades.

I have bought and installed $3000.00 worth of smartcore pro 1 year ago in my unheated cabin since it said good for extreme temperatures down to 25 degrees below zero and Lowes said it was the best and only flooring that will work for me. The floor started to seperate in December 2020 at 19 degrees. Lowes said they can not help me and to file a claim with Shaw. Shaw sent an independent inspector to see flooring in March 2021. The so called independant inspector came and pretty much told me that his job is to find things to void the warranty so no claims get paid. He crawled on my floor throughout all rooms with a 6 foot level and found one high spot on my l floor that tilted his level uneven. I told him every house built has a joyce that is a little high or a little low. He agreed and said that he goes through million dollar brand new homes and always finds the same. He measured the space at edges an said some spots were too close to wall. I told him nothing expanded or contracted and its the locking that has failed. He also said the floor molding was touching the floor and that will also void a warranty. I told him there are no houses where the wall molding is not touching the floor and that no one keeps a gap below the molding. He agreed but said even if my floor did have more spacing and wall molding had a gap under it that Shaw would still void my claim since he found a joyce high spot. He left and I never had a returned call since March. I even offered to lift my floor and pay the $1.49 per square foot and to have it reinstalled by anyone of thier choice to prove it was not an installation problem and it is a locking failure problem with the flooring. I am a tipical hard working person that saved for two years to buy the best flooring made for my conditions. Shaw or Lowes have not even called me to offer me a solution or any compensation towards my $3000.00 invested. I do not know if my floor will continue to worsen but I do know it will not get better. I told the inspector that if Shaw really wanted to improve thier product that this was the perfect chance. An unheated cabin that temperatures go down to a couple of degrees below zero in the coldest part of the year. I have 8 rental proerties, a house and 2-cabins that I wanted to do all over with this flooring and now I can not trust Shaw flooring or Shaw customer service to correct the failure. My cousin is a contrator that build homes and works with hundreds of other contracors and said that he will no longer use Shaw flooring after he sees what happened to me. SHAME ON YOU SHAW FOR NOT FIXING YOUR FAILED FLOOR LOCKING PROBLEM. I or my cousin will never buy another Shaw product unless this is fixed by compensation or what I prefer which is to lift and reinstall new flooring by anyone of Shaws choice. The cabin next to me installed a cheap laminate flooring from Pergo at 1/2 the price and it has not failed under the same temperatures. I am out $3000 but you are out hundreds of thousands of dollars when contractors will not trust your products since you chose not to do the right thing.***SHAME ON YOU SHAW FOR NOT FIXING YOUR FAILED FLOOR LOCKING PROBLEM. Tim Sommers Mongomery, Pa. 17752 (570-220-8070)

A wood vanity with a stone countertop is a very standard installation in a bathroom. Why is your husband worried about upkeep? I just finished a remodel with wood vanity and marble counter and the wood presents no maintenance problems. Wood is used all the time for kitchen cabinets which generally receive more vigorous use. What material were you considering for the construction of the vanity - there is only wood and MDF that I know of as options unless you go for some kind of pedestal sink or the similar style with the metal legs. Modern bathrooms install very effective fans which keep ambient moisture levels low if that was a concern. Mine runs automatically based on moisture levels in the bathroom.

@katinparadise, @patriceny -- I'm glad to hear about positive experiences with these homes. I was concerned that all would be bad. I think you're right about the perception problems, from what I've seen so far, and the confusion with manufactured/mobile homes. Maybe the industry should come up with another name for them ! lol Though the name does makes sense since that's what they are -- built in modules or sections. I saw one article that said they were shipping containers ! Now I know that people do create homes out of shipping containers, I know enough to know that modular homes are not shipping containers. I am looking at the potential cost-savings of a modular, but also like the idea that they're built inside, out of the elements, with less chance of materials being stolen and/or ruined. It's also good to know that they're financed and taxed and appraised just like any other home. Thank you both for all the information you've shared. It's been much appreciated and very helpful. Don't hesitate to share anything else that might come to mind.